Strategies to Avoid Alimony Payments in Maryland

How Can I Avoid Paying Alimony in Maryland?

When you choose to divorce a dependent spouse, they may seek financial support in the form of alimony payments. This type of spousal support can leave you paying alimony until their financial circumstances change enough for them to be self supporting.

However, you may wish to avoid these circumstances. When you have a spouse requesting alimony, your question may be, “How can I avoid paying alimony in Maryland?” If you have a spouse seeking alimony during the divorce process, you may have options to avoid costly alimony payments with the help of a family law attorney in Maryland.

Defining Alimony in Maryland

Alimony is a type of financial spousal support that may be awarded when there is a significant gap between your and your spouse’s financial status. You may be asked to pay alimony to the receiving spouse because they were a stay-at-home parent or a homemaker. In these cases, they may not have the tools to maintain their quality of life.

Alimony in Maryland comes in two forms: definite and indefinite alimony. Definite alimony is an alimony claim that has a defined time limit for the recipient spouse. This alimony may continue until the financial needs of the other spouse change through education and job training to become self-supporting.

Indefinite alimony has no termination date, meaning you may pay until the recipient remarries or dies. That leaves you paying out of your pocket for someone you chose to divorce for years or even decades to come.

Is Alimony Mandatory in Maryland?

Generally, alimony is not required. The judge must award alimony to create an alimony obligation. However, one spouse may have a substantial change in their income when the marriage ends. They may have a mental condition that impacts their ability to work or they may have evidence that their circumstances would change drastically.

In these cases, you may need to take action to avoid alimony payments. Fortunately, you can seek legal counsel to avoid an alimony agreement that leaves you as the paying spouse. While alimony is not mandatory, many people who would see a huge life change without it may seek it out, and you may need to take action as soon as possible to prevent this situation.

Ways Around Paying Alimony

When it is time to make alimony decisions, you may need to seek out an attorney who can help you protect your assets and avoid paying any alimony amount. Below are a few ways your lawyer can help you maintain the status quo and build an agreement that works for both parties.

Plan Without Alimony

Your spouse may not expect to be receiving alimony. When you married, you may not have made any prior arrangements, and you may simply not mention it now. The court’s decision often depends on what the parties agree on during divorce, and if your ex spouse doesn’t decide to claim alimony, it may be unnecessary to worry about it.

Prenuptial Agreements

If you have a prenuptial agreement in place, you may not have to worry about payments. A prenuptial or post-nuptial agreement can protect your assets in court by laying out what funds you are willing or unwilling to share. These agreements can help protect a person from significant alimony payments that may cut into their financial status.

Strategic Financial Planning

In some cases, maintaining clear documentation of all your financial planning can help you avoid alimony payments. You may be able to document that both you and your spouse will have a fair and equal portion of your assets.

Proving this in court can help protect your current financial status, and can ensure that neither party is left without equal support. That can make a big difference in your alimony case.

Reach Out for Help from an Alimony Lawyer

Alimony can make a big cut into your financial status, and you may take issue with providing the recipient with more of your funds. Fortunately, you have options to protect your assets and avoid alimony payments that impact your quality of life.

If you need help with any of the above strategies to avoid paying alimony and Maryland, the team at Parker, Pallet, Slezak & Russell, LLC is here to help. We understand that it can be difficult to avoid high payments in divorce proceedings. That is why we are to help you protect your property and make decisions that are right for you. When you are ready to speak with an attorney, reach out for a consultation by calling or completing our online contact form.